McGrath lauds moves to set up tourism board
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McGrath lauds moves to set up tourism board
- Gerry Gouveia is new THAG head
Stabroek News
March 25, 2000
Declining visitor numbers, the promises of a tourism board, generic marketing and lack of government commitment to the industry are themes common to every meeting of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), outgoing president Shaun McGrath said.
Presenting the President's Report at THAG's eighth annual general meeting held at the Main Street Plaza Hotel on Tuesday evening, McGrath lamented that "the same topics are raised year after year after year."
McGrath said that discussion on visitor arrivals had been low-key because "the Guyana Bureau of Statistics says it is unable to tell us how many visitors came to Guyana in either 1998 or 1999."
On the national level, he said that last year had been a mixed one for the association. After eight years of continuous lobbying, he said, there appeared to be some action being taken and with assurances from the tourism minister it was expected that legislation governing the establishment of the tourism board would be passed in the National Assembly by June this year.
Last year government had committed the sum of $15 million to a tourism board but the funds were on hold pending the creation of the board. It was a good sign, he said that government was finally at the stage of awarding the contract to refurbish the Chess Hall which would be used to house the tourism board. "These are positive moves by government and confirmation that after eight years of lobbying we are closer than ever to our primary goal."
On the downside, he said that THAG's attendance at the business summit, arranged by the Private Sector Commission and President Bharrat Jagdeo in October last year, "has made us realise finally that the nature of our industry is little understood by the powers that be." Though this was long suspected, he said that it became clearer than ever that "the government believes that only a select few will profit from a thriving tourism industry."
Last year, THAG launched the Explore Guyana magazine which had been well received locally and internationally. The expanded 2000 edition was at the planning stage and would cover more tourism articles than the 1999 edition. Plans were also afoot to put the magazine on the internet.
In terms of human resource development, he said that a comprehensive Tour Operators Training Course, financed by the Trade Facilitation Office of Canada, had been successfully completed.
Meanwhile, a major human resource project had been submitted by THAG to the Caribbean Regional Human Resources Programme for Economic Competitiveness. Valued at over Cdn$160,000 per year for a four-year period, the project was close to being approved, with implementation to follow shortly after.
The project was designed to develop the skills of all involved in the industry, from entry level workers to policy makers. McGrath said it would play a vital role in determining the route the industry would take in terms of standards and development.
Noting that the tourism ministry was at present promoting domestic tourism, he said that while THAG supported that brand of tourism the association "believes that the benefit of this on the industry in total will be constrained by the limited financial resources of the majority of Guyanese."
THAG, he said, remained convinced that the real future for tourism was in the overseas markets and that a thriving international market would eventually enable local operators to cater for the domestic market on a preferential basis.
A new executive was elected and Managing Director of Roraima Airways Gerry Gouveia replaced McGrath. Gouveia is serving a second term after a break. Managing Director of Mainstay Resort, Mukesh Daby has been elected vice-president. The three executive members are General Manager of Le Meridien Pegasus, Jean Guillaumot; Bernard Lee-Yong of Shanklands Resort; and Richard Ousman of Wonderland Tours.
